By Mohamed Jalloh
As I make this Literary Contribution, somebody is being stabbed somewhere in Sierra Leone due to Clique and Gang violence. These barbaric and inhuman acts are sometimes meted out on innocent and defenseless people. Clique boys, as they have been tagged, indulge in violence with a view to commit broad daylight robbery or something sinister.
Such ugly incidents are perpetrated by youths on people departing from sporting and entertainment gatherings usually on weekends in places such as the Parade Football field in central Freetown to exhibitions during Festive Seasons at the National Stadium West of Freetown to name but a few.
This naked display of lawlessness and violent behavior has prompted the Sierra Leone Police under the past APC government to institute an indefinite ban on all school sporting activities.
The Central One Football Association (COFA) tournament at the Parade Grounds, Central Freetown was given preference to go ahead and continue to organize sporting events by the Police despite several criticisms against the preferential treatment meted out to them against all others
After the collapse of the Sierra Leone Football Premier League, the COFA league became the final resort for all football activities and community teams indeed had used the only option to rally their community football teams and battle for supremacy.
The aftermath of these football matches again resulted in stabbings with the intention to maim or kill, snatching of bags from ladies, the smashing of vehicle windscreens. It is my humble opinion that the League must be banned in order to preserve Law and Order.
Under normal circumstances without undue influence of intoxicants, a youth might resort to “second thought” before attempting to maim a compatriot with a machete, an act reminiscent of the brutal Civil War that plagued the country for the past eleven years.
Such militaristic tendencies by our youths have been largely attributed to the intake of cheap and injurious alcohol manufactured by Indian business men.
Angry callers contributing to Radio Phone-in programmes in the capital Freetown have blamed these Indian companies of indirectly killing these Sierra Leonean youths because of the high percentage of alcohol contained in the different alcoholic sachets they produce.
It is generally rumoured in many circles that these cheap alcoholic Indian companies were refused operational licenses even in Liberia, which is described by many in the Mano River basin as the land of Alcoholics.
In Sierra Leone they were given a red carpet welcome and the most precious resource of our Nation “the youths’’ are paying the price in dire consequences.
Popular brands like Kadco Limited located at Murray Town have taken the brunt of the bashing along with Shakandas and Sons Limited and MR Distilleries in the Wellington Industrial Estate.
Because of the porous nature of our frontiers Tramadol the new found ecstasy for our youth have gained a foot hold in the Sierra Leone narcotic den.
A clique leader at the Black Street Youth hang out,at Brookfield’s, in Freetown confided in me “Just take a look around, and see that used cards of Tramadol far surpass that of other intoxicants.’’ In other words, what the young man was basically saying was that the abuse of Tramadol by our youths dwarfs that of other substances like Marijuana.
As far as my investigation can unearth, the Cliquish Gangsterism Empire is divided into 3 groups. The Member of Blood (MOB) brandishes the Red Bandanna and they are visibly present in the Western Part of Freetown. Pockets of MOB members can also be found around the Eastern Police and Fourah Bay road-hence the existence of a notorious Clique in that community called Fourah Bay Hood (FBH).
Some of the members of this group are currently on trial accused of committing the famous Fourah Bay Football Field Murder where Machetes were disguised in water containers to perpetrate the Murder.
The other group is the Community Revolution in Progress and Brother Hood Support (CRIBPS).This group displays the Blue Bandanna and is the fiercest rival to the MOB. The CRIBPS operate within the heart of the Central Business District and its surrounding neighbourhoods.
Finally, there exists the East Hood or Black Flag who are identified by the Black Muffler worn around their neck. They are the Governors of the Eastern part of the city (ranging from up gun to Waterloo).
Whenever a member of a rival clique mistakenly strays into the territory controlled by another group the individual counts himself lucky to escape with his life.
There is a tacit understanding and solidarity between the Black and the Blue flag members; on the other hand blood will flow anytime the Blue and Red flag Members cross path.
Over the years the area along Campbell Street between (Smythe Street or Congo Market and St John) has become a flash point for rival Clique violence particularly on National holidays when the CRIPBS Masquerade is in procession along that route. This locality in constituency 127 in and around the Congo Market is the Den and spiritual home of the MOB. The leader of this group is called Ibrahim Turay aka Bowwow who lives at No 12 Beccles Lane Brookfields. This obscure tall, lanky and dark in complexion youth boastfully prides himself in stabbing his victims with impunity.
One of his victims uses dark sunglasses at night because one of his eyes is lost forever. He is very popular among Police and Judicial Circles given that he has consistently survived Charges like Murder, Wounding with Intent, Robbery with Aggravation and riotous conduct.
Justice Komba Kamanda once declared in Court to the clique leader that “you will never get bail in my court.”
His criminal activities reached a frightening crescendo on May 11 Bob Marley night when he led a gang of MOB armed with machetes thereby unleashing terror by vandalizing shops and businesses around the St John round-about.
After the Nomination of the Presidential Candidate of the APC at NEC headquarters, an attempt to intermingle these rival gangs by a Pseudo Islamic preacher called Sheik led to the death of 2 young Sierra Leoneans and multiple life-threatening maimings and stabbings in the Campbell Street St John area.
In total disregard of the 2 murders, Sheik and his legion of gangs were only charged with riotous conduct. An ultimatum of 3 months imprisonment or a fine of Le1 million was handed down to each of the 53 convicts including Sheik.
Apart from blaming the weak and obsolete laws in our statute books, Sheik`s close connection with the APC government as Street life Ambassador, means justice could easily be perverted.
On Fridays, Sheik normally preaches at a makeshift Mosque around King Jimmy. In one of his sermons, he extols the virtues of Former President Koroma, even likening him to the Christian Negus Negas of Ethiopia who provided refuge to the second wave of Muslim migrants fleeing persecution in the land of Arabia.
President Bio`s government must be watchful of Sheik as stories do abound that he also infiltrated the Late President Kabbah`s government.
Alfama is the name of a popular night club erected on the Ascension town road cemetery grounds that attracts Cliques and gangs from all over the Freetown Municipality.
The law enforcement institution in close proximity to this gangster club is the Adelaide Street Police Station. The Local Unit Commander (LUC) has revealed that even though these gangs can be policed they are finding it very difficult to contain their crimes. The Police leadership of the Kissy Mess Mess division has also disclosed that that the cases of stabbings and violence among rival gangs are at an alarming rate.
The stabbing of a 14 year old boy at the Samuels Community by a popular clique group called British Money Taking Over(BMTO) stand out as the most recent case of the nefarious activities perpetrated by these gang groups. The pervasive nature of this menace has got no limit within Sierra Leone as the newly transferred LUC of the Kenema division has made it a priority to tackle Cliqueism and Gangsterism in the district.
The Strategy of the Sierra Leone Police to combat the Cliques only stops at the Creation of the Local Police Partnership Board (LPPB), and so far so good, it has been a fiasco.
When politics merges with lawlessness and indiscipline, it becomes dangerous. A battalion of these youths are conscripted by the 2 major political parties as Vigilante Party Defense Force (P.D.F).
During the electioneering period a Senior Police officer in charge of Operations at the Central Police Division` `razor’’ openly distributed money given to him by APC big guns to distribute to clique members attending their party convention in Makeni. Immediately after the APC lost the 2018 elections the PDF threatened to burn down the party headquarters after realizing that the stipend promised was not forthcoming.
Many party stalwarts were chased out of the party headquarters. The situation was later resolved as a result of an entreaty initiated by Chericoco.
Being that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, politicians are determined to put these youths to better use during elections and land evictions.